States of the Holy Roman Empire

This list of States which were part of the Holy Roman Empire includes any territory ruled by an authority that had been granted imperial immediacy. The Holy Roman Empire was a complex political entity that existed in central Europe for most of the medieval and early modern periods. It should be mentioned that these states that composed the Empire, while enjoying a unique form of territorial authority (called Landeshoheit) that granted them many attributes of sovereignty, were never fully sovereign states as the term is understood today.[1] In the 18th century, the Holy Roman Empire consisted of approximately 1,800 such territories, the majority being tiny estates owned by the families of Imperial Knights.[2] This page does not directly contain the list, but it discusses the format of the various lists, and offers some background to understand the complex organization of the Holy Roman Empire. The lists themselves can be accessed via the alphabetical navigation box at the top of this page, each letter will lead the reader to a page where states of the Empire which began with that letter are listed. For a more complete history of the empire, see Holy Roman Empire.

Table of states

Whilst any such list could never be truly definitive, nevertheless the list (accessible by the template at the top of this article) attempts to be as comprehensive as possible.

It is not limited to feudal entities that possessed Imperial immediacy (German Reichsunmittelbarkeit), that is, that were under the direct authority of the Holy Roman Emperor, but includes quite some other lordships, sous-fiefs and allodial fiefs.

Definition of terms

Imperial AbbeyReichsabt: A Reichsabt, literally 'Imperial Abbot' or 'Abbot of the Empire', was an Abbot whose abbey was granted within the Holy Roman Empire the status of Reichsabtei (or Reichskloster), literally 'Imperial Abbey' (or – Monastery), meaning that it enjoyed Imperial immediacy (Reichsunmittelbarkeit), like an Imperial City, making him a prince of the church, with the rank of a Prince of the Empire, like a prince-bishop.

Imperial Circle: An Imperial Circle (in German Reichskreis, plural Reichskreise) was a regional grouping of states of the Holy Roman Empire, primarily for the purpose of organising a common defence and of collecting imperial taxes, but also as a means of organisation within the Imperial Diet.

Imperial Diet (Reichstag): The Imperial Diet was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire. The same name was used within the North German Confederation and within Germany until 1945.

Imperial Estate: An Imperial State or Imperial Estate (German singular: Reichsstand, plural: Reichsstände) was an entity in the Holy Roman Empire with a vote in the Imperial Diet. Several states had no seats in the Empire, while some officials (such as the Hereditary Usher) were non-voting members; neither qualified as Imperial States.

Imperial Free City: In the Holy Roman Empire, an imperial free city (German: freie Reichsstadt) was a city formally responsible to the emperor only – as opposed to the majority of cities in the Empire, which belonged to a territory and were thus governed by one of the many princes (Fürsten) of the Empire, such as dukes or prince-bishops. Free cities also had independent representation in the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire.

Imperial immediacy (Reichsfreiheit or Reichsunmittelbarkeit, adjectives reichsfrei, reichsunmittelbar): Immediacy was a privileged feudal and political status, a form of statehood, which a city, religious entity or feudal principality of minor lordship could attain within the Holy Roman Empire. An immediate city, abbey or territory was under the direct authority of the Holy Roman Emperor and the Imperial Diet, without any intermediary Liege lord(s). Advantages were that immediate regions had the right to collect taxes and tolls themselves, and held juridical rights (including the Blutgericht, 'high' justice including capital punishment) themselves. De facto immediacy corresponded to a semi-independence with a far-reaching autonomy.

Imperial Reform: In 1495, an attempt was made at a Diet in the city of Worms to give the disintegrating Holy Roman Empire a new structure, commonly referred to as Imperial Reform (in German: Reichsreform).

Imperial State: An Imperial State or Imperial Estate (German singular: Reichsstand, plural: Reichsstände) was an entity in the Holy Roman Empire with a vote in the Imperial Diet.

Mediatization: defined broadly, is the annexation of one monarchy by another monarchy in such a way that the ruler of the annexed state keeps his or her noble title, and sometimes a measure of power. Thus, for example, when a sovereign county is annexed to a larger principality, its reigning count might find himself subordinated to a prince, but would nevertheless remain a count, rather than be stripped of his title.

Prince of the Empire: A Prince of the Empire is any ruling Prince whose territory is a member of the Holy Roman Empire (not only German-speaking countries, but also many bordering and extensive neighbouring regions) and entitled to a voting seat (or in a collective voting unit, such as the Grafenbank) in Imperial Diet or Reichstag.

Prince-abbot: A Prince-abbott is a cleric who is a prince of the church (like a prince-bishop) in the sense of an ex-officio temporal lord of a feudal entity, known as prince-abbacy or abbey-principality, in an area that is ruled by the head of an abbey. The designated abbey may be a monastery or a convent. Thus, because of the possibility of it being a convent, an abbey-principality is one of the few cases in which the rule can be restricted to female incumbents, styled princess-abbess. In many cases they were prince of the empire of a Reichsabtei in or near Germany, with a seat in the Imperial Diet.

Prince-Bishop: A Prince-Bishop is a bishop who is a territorial prince of the church on account of one or more secular principalities, usually pre-existent nobiliary titles held concurrently with their inherent clerical office. If the see is an archbishopric, the correct term is prince-archbishop; the equivalent in the regular clergy is a prince-abbot.

Prince-elector: The prince-electors or electoral princes of the Holy Roman Empire (German: sing. Kurfürst, pl. Kurfürsten) were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors.

Secularization: Secularization is a process of transformation as a society slowly migrates from close identification with the local institutions of religion to a more clearly separated relationship. In this context, often referring to the transfer of Prince-Bishoprics to the control of lay rulers.

Notes column

The "Notes" column shows, in capsule form,

the territorial development of the different states or polities (acquisition or loss of possessions, union of rulers or dynasties, etc.);

the royal or noble dynasties, including their various branches, which ruled over territories or polities;

the attributes of "statehood" (right to mint coins, holding markets and fairs, entering into treaties and pacts, appointment of civil officials, etc.); and

the size of territory and population of the various polities whenever these are available.

Estate of the Empire (Reichsstand)

The following excerpt from François Velde's Unequal and Morganatic Marriages in German Law provides an excellent overview on what an Estate (or State) of the Empire is.[3] For his purpose, the author deals only with the hereditary territorial rulers but it should be remembered that the Estates also included a substantial number of non-hereditary territorial rulers such as the ecclesiastical states (prince-bishoprics and imperial abbeys) and free imperial cities.

In other languages

Höckmann, Thomas (2006). "Territorial arrangement of North Rhine-Westphalia 1789". (Translation from the original in German through Google Search). [31]. (Excellent articles and links about the States of the Holy Roman Empire). Retrieved June 26, 2006.

HIS DATA: Historical Rulers of the Territories (Aristocracy) (English translation)

Internet Medieval Sourcebook

Regional Research in German-speaking Countries

Regnal Chronologies

World Statesmen

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